Mayfield goes deep as Patriots lock down Area Championship against Jets

Bob Jones shortstop Nate Mayfield (11) heads toward home plate after hitting a 2-run home run in the sixth inning against James Clemens on Thursday, April 20, 2023 at the Jetplex.

By CALEB ODOM (caleb@themadisonrecord.com)

MADISON — The ball cracked off of Bob Jones shortstop Nate Mayfield’s bat and everyone knew where it was going.

“It was actually a hit and run so I was swinging no matter what,” Mayfield said.

“He threw me a curveball, saw the spin so I just let it eat.”

With one swing, Mayfield had given his Patriots the 4-2 lead in the sixth with a massive 2-run home run on the road that would secure the area championship against bitter rival James Clemens.

As the shortstop rounded the bases with his head held high, the gravity of the moment began to take effect.

This game had so much hype around it. Crosstown rivals facing off. The stands were full of students who wanted to get a piece of the rivalry.

The TV cameras were there to film the first game of the 3-game series played firstly at the James Clemens Jetplex on Thursday, April 20.

Mayfield stepped on third base and he turned and took a long look into the Jets’ dugout as he advanced toward home plate where his teammates waited for him.

“This is big. We get two rounds at home in the playoffs,” Mayfield said.

“And just the morale of knowing we run this city.”

Big words that were backed up with a big swing.

Bob Jones marches into Saturday as the top dogs also because of a stellar pitching performance from Sam Mitchell who gave his team seven innings and allowed just two runs.

The towering right hander struck out 10 while giving up eight hits and one walk in the victory.

This game was billed as a battle of the aces as Luke Davenport took the mound for James Clemens, but the Jets hurler came up a little short in this contest.

Davenport threw seven innings where he struck out seven, walked three and allowed four runs on five hits.

Bob Jones took advantage of a slow start by Davenport in top of the first when the Jets ace walked Braden Booth and Sammy Vander Hill to begin the game.

Booth would come in to score on a wild pitch and CJ Bush drove in Vander Hill to provide the Patriots with a giftwrapped 2-0 advantage.

“I was just trying to help my team out and get us going early,” Bush said.

“The more you have, the better.”

Mitchell was collecting the swings and misses early with seven K’s through the first three innings as James Clemens tried in vain to create a rally.

Davenport settled down after his rocky first inning and proceeded to cruise through the Patriot batting order through the middle innings.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Jets finally broke through when some throwing errors by Bob Jones opened the door for James Clemens.

Nate Guyse’s leadoff double would eventually score when Hayden Markfort reached on a throwing error by Mitchell.

Second baseman Francisco Ramirez came up clutch for James Clemens with an RBI single that knotted the game up at 2-2 when he drove in Markfort.

The Jets seemed poised for more when both Ty Marsh and Colten Payton reached with singles, but Mitchell was able to pitch out of the jam to keep the game tied.

“We were just trying to scratch runs really,” Jet shortstop Andrew Lawrence said.

“We did our job getting the ball down on the ground. That’s how we talked about we were going to beat them.”

The momentum had appeared to have swung into the James Clemens dugout after the rally in the bottom of the fifth.

But it was short-lived as Mayfield did his damage in the top of the sixth with the home run.

Sure, this game was full of emotion and mixed with a dash of animosity, but at its core this was a battle among competitors who are familiar with each other.

“The guy on the mound is one of my best friends, Sam Mitchell,” Jets catcher Colten Payton said.

“The whole game was super fun because the guys that hang out are Braden Booth, Andrew (Lawrence), Sam and me. We all hang out together. So it was a lot of energy, a lot of passion. I really wanted to beat them.”

The Patriots may have had the last laugh on Thursday, but these two programs square off in a double-header at Bob Jones on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.

“They are our crosstown rival so it’s like we are going over there for pride now,” Lawrence said.

“We are just going to go try to whip some tail.”